The first day of the Chinese New Year falls on February 17 this year. Also called the Spring Festival or Lunar New Year, the celebration that marks the arrival of spring is observed across China and many East Asian countries.
Families traditionally come together for festive meals, and children are often given money in red packets known as hong bao.
The Lunar New Year also signals the rotation of the Chinese zodiac, a 12-year cycle where each year is represented by an animal. One myth says the Jade Emperor held a great race and the first 12 animals to finish earned places in the zodiac. In order they are: rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, goat, monkey, rooster, dog and pig.
If you were born in 1918, 1930, 1942, 1954, 1966, 1978, 1990, 2002, 2014 or 2026, your zodiac sign is the Horse. Each animal year is also linked to one of five elements — wood, fire, earth, metal or water — making 2026 specifically the Year of the Fire Horse.
In Chinese tradition the horse represents strength, speed, courage, loyalty, freedom and talent. People born under this sign are often described as brave, steady, upright, faithful and independent. Famous figures born in Horse years include Nelson Mandela, Jackie Chan, filmmakers Ang Lee and Martin Scorsese, actor Zoe Saldana, Paul McCartney, chef Gordon Ramsay, and astronaut Neil Armstrong, who famously said on the moon: “That’s one small step for [a] man, one giant leap for mankind.”
Horses have profoundly shaped human history. They pulled chariots in ancient Egypt, appear in Greek myth, and thundered around Rome’s Circus Maximus. In ancient China, the mausoleum of the first emperor Qin Shi Huang included life-size terracotta horses arrayed with chariots and cavalry.
Archaeological evidence indicates horse domestication began about 6,000 years ago on the western Eurasian steppe — the expanse from modern Ukraine through southwest Russia to northern Kazakhstan. As domesticated herds spread, people repeatedly incorporated local wild mares, producing the genetic diversity seen in horses today.
Across Eurasia, horses became central to nomadic life. Kazakh and Mongolian riders still prize horses for transport, subsistence and cultural identity — a role that stretches back to Genghis Khan’s cavalry. In the Arabian Peninsula, Bedouin breeders maintained prized bloodlines largely through oral record-keeping, passing pedigrees by memory.
For millennia horses were humanity’s fastest and most reliable means of travel. They carried armies, pulled plows and coaches, connected trade routes, and helped expand empires long before steam and internal combustion engines transformed mobility. The legacy survives in the term “horsepower,” still used to measure engine output.
Breed histories reflect local stories. Mustangs descend from horses reintroduced to North America by Spanish explorers in the 1500s; animals that escaped or were released became the free‑roaming forebears of today’s herds. The word “mustang” comes from the Spanish mesteño, meaning stray. Indigenous nations quickly incorporated these horses into hunting, trade and warfare, reshaping mobility on the continent — and inspiring later cultural references such as the Ford Mustang.
In Siberia, Yakutian horses adapted to some of the planet’s harshest winters. Their dense coats and compact bodies protect them from temperatures that can plunge below −60 °C. They also appear able to lower metabolic rate and core temperature while remaining active — a kind of “standing hibernation” that conserves energy without deep sleep. Scientists describe the Yakutian horse’s rapid cold‑adaptation as among the fastest evolutionary changes observed in the species.
More recently, horses have taken on roles that bring them into closer therapeutic and coaching partnerships with humans. Equine‑assisted therapy supports people with PTSD, autism, anxiety and physical disabilities by leveraging horses’ acute sensitivity to human body language and emotion. That same awareness makes horses useful in leadership training: they quickly mirror small shifts in posture, tension or intent, prompting participants to reflect on how they lead, communicate and set boundaries. A horse’s willingness to follow or disengage offers immediate, nonverbal feedback on interpersonal dynamics.
From transport and warfare to therapy and leadership development, the human‑horse relationship continues to evolve, shaped by history, culture and the new roles horses play in our lives today.
Edited by: Elizabeth Grenier